Closer for sliding door



Aug. 23, 1966 a. WARTIAN CLOSER FOR SLIDING DOOR Filed July 14, 1965 1 NVEN TOR. few/ye 1414/2 24,

United States Patent 3,267,513 CLOSER FOR SLIDING DOOR George Wartian, East Detroit, Mich., assignor to Wartian Lock Company, St. Clair Shores, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed July 14, 1965, Ser. No. 471,968 1 Claim. (Cl. 1667) This invention relates to a new and improved closer for sliding doors in which the closing movement of the door is accurately controlled to avoid slamming or incomplete closing of the door. Such control is achieved by means of a novel coil spring and pneumatic bleed closing system in which the coil spring and pneumatic bleed are independently and easily adjustable without disassembly of the door closer. By proper adjustment of the closing system the closer may be set according to the weight of the door to accurately control closing of the door.

Additionally, the door closer is compact and inexpensive to manufacture, yet is rugged, reliable, and efficient in operation. It is silent and moves the sliding door toward the closed position at a smooth and uniform rate to avoid slamming the door.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved closer for a sliding door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closer for a sliding door in which a coil spring and pneumatic bleed means cooperate to provide proper closing movement of the door.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device as described with easily and independently adjustable spring and pneumatic bleed means.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claim and may be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which by way of illustration show a preferred embodiment of the invention and What I now consider to be the best mode of applying the principles thereof. Other embodiments of the invention may he used without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a representational view of a sliding door with a closer according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

As shown in the drawings, the door closer may be used to control the closing of a sliding door which includes border frame members 12, 14, 16 and 18 in which may be mounted a center glass or screen panel 20. The sliding door 10 is mounted within a door frame which includes panels 22 and 24 and a track on the floor so that the door is slidable from a closed position as shown in FIGURE 1 to the left toward the open position. The door is provided with a handle and latch mechanism (not shown) so that the door may be secured in closed position.

The door closer is mounted at the top of the sliding door 10 and includes a housing 26 which is secured to frame member 12 by means of screws 28. One end of cylinder 30 is mounted in the housing 26 so that the cylinder extends along the upper frame member 14. A mounting block 32 is attached to the other end of the cylinder 30 and is secured to the upper portion of frame member 16 by means of screw 34. A reel 36 is located within the cylindrical recess 38 in the housing 26 and a cap 40 is clamped against the open side of the housing 26 by means of lugs 42 which are secured by screws 43 to the housing 26. The cap is provided with a sealing gasket 44 so as to make an airtight seal with the housing 26. A stub shaft 47 on the reel 36 is journaled within a recess 48' in the cap and bore 45 in the reel is fitted over pin 46 carried in the housing so that the reel is freely rotatable within the cylindrical recess 38.

A flexible wire or line 50 is wound around the reel 36 and extends through an opening 52 in the housing 26 which connects the cavity 38 with the cylinder 30. One end of line 50 is secured to a piston 54 in cylinder 30 and the other end 56 of the line 50 is secured within a bore 58 in reel 36. A piston rod 62 extends from piston 54 outwardly through the cylinder 30 and mounting block 32 and is mounted on the door frame 22 by means of a clevis 64 or other suitable means. The piston rod is provided with an adjustable stop 66 which may be used to hold the door in a partially or fully open position.

A coil spring 68 is confined within a cylindrical recess 69 in the cap 40 and surrounds shaft 47. The outer end 70 of the coil spring 68 is confined within a groove 72 in the cap and the inner end 74 is secured within groove 76 in the shaft 47 An air bleed passageway 78 connects the recess 38 in the closer to atmosphere and includes a tapered threaded portion 80 in which tapered air bleed adjustment screw 82 is seated. A metered flow of air passes through the bleed passageway as piston 54 moves within cylinder 30.

In the closed position of the door as shown in FIG- URE 1, the piston 54 is located in the cylinder 30 adjacent the housing 26. As the door is moved to the left toward the open position, the housing and cylinder move away from door frame panel 22. The piston rod 62 and piston 54 are fixed relative to the door panel 22 so that the cylinder 30 moves to the left relative to the piston 54. This movement causes the wire 50 to unwind and rotate the reel 36 within the reel housing, thus winding the coil spring 68.

When the door is released from the full or partially open position, the coil spring 68 rotates the reel 36 so as to wind up the wire 50 on the reel and move the door 10 toward the closed position. The movement of the door toward this position is controlled by the escape of the entrapped air in the cylinder 30 and the recess 38 through the bleed passageway 78 and also by the torque exerted on the reel by the coil spring. In order to obtain a desired smooth closing of the door so as to avoid both slamming or incomplete closing, it is necessary to adjust both the coil spring and the bleed rate according to the weight of the door. When the door 10 is relatively heavy, it is necessary to provide a greater torque to close the door. This adjustment may be achieved by loosening lugs 42 and rotating cap 40 in a counterclockwise direction (see FIG. 1) so as to tighten the coil spring. The pneumatic bleed may be adjusted by adjustment screw 82 to provide a bleed opening which will allow the door to close at the desired rate.

It should be noted that the adjustment of the door closer is easily effected without disassembly of the closer. Thus the user can easily adjust the operation of the door closer to achieve proper closing of the door.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that this is capable of modification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claim.

I claim:

A door closer for use in closing a sliding door comprising a cylinder, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder and normally positioned at one end thereof, a housing secured to said one end of said cylinder and having an interior chamber communicating with said cylinder, a cap seated on the outside of said housing and forming one wall of said chamber, a torque transmitting shaft freely rotatable Within said chamber with one end thereof journaled in the chamber wall opposite said cap and the other end thereof journaled in said cap, a flexible line wrapped around said shaft adjacent said one end of said shaft with one end thereof extending into said cylinder and secured to said piston, a flat coil spring located in said chamber and wound around said shaft, the inner end of said coil spring being secured to said other end of said shaft and the outer end thereof being secured to said cap, clamping means for clamping said cap against said housing and being releasable to permit rotation of said cap relative to said housing to adjust the tension of said spring, a piston rod projecting through the other end of said cylinder, and an adjustable air bleed connecting said chamber to atmosphere so as to permit a regulated References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,992,450 7/1961 Pittenger 1678 3,020,580 2/1962 Glenn 1661 3,103,034 9/1963 Fisher 1666 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

